


be with me (don't go)

by bojoo



Category: Golden Child (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, bbangbbangz cameo kinda, bojoo babies ?, bomin is nameless for a hot minute, somehow a lot of bickering, you can tell this was rushed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28813728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bojoo/pseuds/bojoo
Summary: "Joochan, you know that isn't going to work." Jibeom looked over at his roommate's laptop screen, unimpressed."I'm out of ideas, okay!" Joochan retaliated, still focused on the screen."Yeah, but even I know typing 'who was the cute guy I met at pride' in the Google search bar won't help."
Relationships: Choi Bomin/Hong Joochan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31
Collections: Golden Age Fic Fest





	1. uncertainty.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #140: Joochan meets Bomin during pride and they seem to get along really well but before Joochan can ask Bomin for his number Bomin's friends tell him it's time to go home. Joochan then starts to search for Bomin online. 
> 
> hello! i don’t write often but i wanted to contribute to the golcha tag eventually so :] enjoy!

Colourful decorations transforming the streets, live music that lightened the atmosphere, and an overflowing amount of people wearing bright smiles on their faces, proud to celebrate who they were — everything was lovely, and Joochan wasn’t sure why he never thought of attending pride sooner. He figured he owed Jangjun one for dragging him along.

“Speaking of that kid…” Joochan muttered to himself, scanning across the crowd. They arrived together not too long ago, but he already took off to _woo_ people. So much for promising that he would show Joochan around since it was his first time there...

Joochan couldn’t blame Jangjun, though. There _were_ some pretty cute guys around.

Joochan looked around him, taking in the sight once again. The knowledge that everyone there was part of the same community gave him a sense of comfort. Some people were with their partners, a few were roaming around on their own and others were chattering happily with their friends. Then he realised that one was now standing beside him, supposedly waiting for the chance to say something.

“Hey.” A boy carefully tapped Joochan’s left shoulder, startling him slightly. Joochan turned to face him, and the boy flashed a smile. “Did you come alone?”

“Oh, hey.” Joochan waved awkwardly. It’s not that he’s an awkward person — he’s far from that, really — but no one ever warned him about being randomly approached by strangers. At least he didn’t expect that it would actually happen to him.

Joochan found himself looking up to the taller boy. Dark hair and eyes, presumably around the same age as him. His outfit wasn’t as bright or flashy as most other people, save for his wristband and temporary face tattoo, both with colours of the bi flag. And speaking of his face — boy, was he pretty.

Now _that’s_ what Joochan calls a cute guy.

“I came with a friend, but he ditched me to go and… I don’t know. Find hot guys or something.” Joochan eventually responded after getting used to (read: admiring) the sudden company. “And you?”

“My friends are still watching the parade. Not sure why they didn’t want to get snacks with me, but that’s their loss.” The boy lightly shook the bucket of snacks he was holding.

“They didn’t want snacks?!” Joochan’s eyes widened in shock. “Yeah, I think you’re the winner here.”

The boy just laughed, taking another bite of his fries. He offered some to Joochan too, to which he happily agreed. 

For a moment, no words were being exchanged between them. Not even their names. Just fries.

Joochan assumed the guy (who he now labelled as the cute-fries-bi) just wanted to keep him company since he was alone for a while now. Thanks, cute-fries-bi. But Joochan realises it probably wasn’t the most considerate thing to do to be silently taking fries away from someone he just met. 

“Okay, but do they have fried chicken too?”

Joochan nearly thought he said something wrong, because the cute-fries-bi just looked at Joochan with amusement. It was almost as if he never heard someone’s tone brighten over the thought of fried chicken.

To Joochan's delight, he was brought to the snack stalls that were a quick walk away from where they were. Fast forward to a couple of minutes later, and he was happily eating his chicken while the other boy just watched and smiled. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be embarrassed that he was munching away in front of someone who didn’t know his impressive eating habits, but he felt comfortable enough with the company he had.

Joochan didn't make any plans to have entire conversations with people he met at pride, but he was glad it happened. He enjoyed being in the cute-fries-bi's presence, even though it mostly consisted of small talk and munching. Joochan didn’t know if it was just friendliness, but the boy seemed so bright and cheerful that Joochan unconsciously smiled back whenever he did.

Joochan was uncertain why, but he just liked it whenever he saw the other boy smile. 

The two were heading back towards the parade, when someone ran towards them and playfully pushed the taller boy.

"There you are!" Someone, who Joochan assumed to be one of the cute-fries-bi’s friends, swung his arm around the boy’s shoulder. He pointed towards two others who were looking at them expectantly. "We should get going now."

“Guess I have to go.” The cute-fries-bi turned to Joochan and frowned, though his gloomy expression quickly changed into a huge grin. “It was nice talking to you!”

“Oh, and before I forget. I’m Bomin.” He winked cheekily, and Joochan swore he nearly felt his heart jump out of his chest.

“Oh, bye! I’m… Joochan.” Joochan trailed off, wondering whether Bomin could even hear him. His friends already dragged him off to walk a distance, with them shooting him suspicious looks and Bomin hurriedly waving them off. Joochan tried to figure out what was going on, but all he could make out was one of them screeching “ _Bomin WINKED at him!_ ” as if he just made a discovery worthy of winning a Nobel Prize. Huh. Maybe he would understand what that implied if he thought harder, but his mind was still clouded with thoughts of what just happened.

Admittedly, they were mostly thoughts of the person himself.

Joochan placed his hand over his chest, feeling his own heartbeat as he watched Bomin walk out of sight. 

“So _this_ is how it feels.”

* * *

"Joochan, you know that isn't going to work." Jibeom looked over at his roommate's laptop screen, unimpressed.

"I'm out of ideas, okay!" Joochan retaliated, still focused on the screen.

"Yeah, but even I know typing _who was the cute guy I met at pride_ in the Google search bar won't help." Jibeom deadpanned. Joochan glared at him momentarily, then let out a sigh.

“I guess you’re right.” Joochan closed the tab in defeat. “But only random people come up when I search his name! Gosh, why did everyone decide to name their children Bomin…”

“Search harder, then. You’ll find him.” Jibeom said, not sparing a second glance at Joochan.

Joochan mentally cursed Jibeom for making it sound so easy to find someone in the depths of the internet, but he figured Jibeom wasn’t wrong. Joochan sighed again, going for another long search.

Three days had passed since Joochan went to pride, yet he found himself still thinking of the boy he met. He told Jangjun about it after he managed to find him, and Jangjun insisted that he was whipped. Maybe it wasn't the best idea for Joochan to tell that someone who chatted others up during pride too.

Even though Joochan regretted not asking Bomin to exchange numbers with him, he took that as a sign that he should just go on with his life. But part of Joochan was bugging him not to stop there. After all, he was the one who already knew Bomin’s name and would be able to reach out. That, and Joochan couldn’t seem to get him out of his mind. Who even keeps thinking about someone who they met for barely an hour?

Perhaps Jangjun had a point.

After a while, Joochan got tired of dully scrolling through the searches. He probably just wasn’t doing this right. He turned to Jibeom, who was playing some games on his phone. “Do you have any ideas then?”

“Hmm…” Jibeom momentarily put down his phone to think. For someone who just dissed him, Joochan’s surprised he seemed serious about wanting to help. It was almost an honour that he actually paused his game for Joochan.  
  
“Search up the event? I don’t know, maybe there’s somewhere where people post pictures of themselves at that specific parade.” Jibeom suggested after pondering over it. 

Joochan took some time to process the information, pointing to his head out of habit. Then his eyes lit up. “Dude, you’re a genius!”

“Thank me later. Now go find that Bomin guy, I was playing my game...” Jibeom smiled in satisfaction, picking up his phone again.

Just as Jibeom mentioned, Joochan remembered that the organisers created a hashtag where people could post pictures of the event. Good for them for publicising aggressively enough to the point where the hashtag stuck to his head. Of course it wasn’t a given that everyone who attended the parade would post pictures of themselves so openly, but his gut feeling told him that he would be able to find Bomin there.

And he was right.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take Joochan much scrolling to find a familiar face. Four of them, in fact. His first instinct was to let out a shrill gasp, making Jibeom flinch. Then he tapped the picture and immediately zoomed in on Bomin’s face. There was one thing Joochan noticed — whether in real life or in pictures, this Bomin guy sure was cute as hell.

“00z at pride, huh…” Joochan breezed through the caption before immediately diverting his attention back to the picture. Now that he wasn't fixating his gaze, he realised they were _all_ cute. Maybe men weren't so bad, he thought. Especially not Bomin.

One tap on the screen, and the tags reveal Bomin's account. Joochan taps once more, loading his profile.

Zero posts, yet thousands of followers. He's one of those guys, huh. 

The next few taps were supposed to lead straight to his direct messages. But Joochan's suddenly anxious, worrying about what this would lead to, or whether he was being a creep for finding Bomin's account with just a first name. 

"Just do it, Joochan. Are you going to stare at that screen for three days too?" Jibeom interrupted Joochan's train of thoughts. Jibeom earned his second glare of the day, though he couldn't care less. It just amused him how Joochan went from intense picture zooming to blank staring.

"Tsk. Fine." Joochan tutted. He's slightly ticked off that Jibeom kept being blunt in a situation he was new to, but that was the final push he needed. The push he needed to slide into his DMs.

Tap.

One short pause, followed by steady typing.

One sharp inhale.

Tap.

_hongjo_ochan:_

_heyy_

_we met at pride, right?_

One accomplishment down for Joochan. He sighed in relief, locking his phone screen and holding it to his chest.

Merely seconds passed, and he immediately regretted extending the "hey". Don't people say something about the number of y's having a meaning? Hopefully Bomin wouldn't overthink it, he thought.

Either way, overthinking it would probably lead him to the right conclusion.

In the meantime, Joochan decided to carry out his daily practice of idly scrolling his feed while lying down on his bed. The application was conveniently open for him to use anyway.

Joochan could spend hours scrolling Instagram if he wanted to. He was set out to achieve that once again, but his session was put to a halt when a particular notification dropped down on his screen.

_bobobomin has followed you._


	2. certainty.

When Bomin checked his direct message requests, he just screamed.

It wasn't the type of scream you'd hear while watching a horror movie, neither was it the scream of thrill you'd let out when riding a rollercoaster. It was just pure, high-pitched screeching of _much_. Thank god no one was around to hear that.

Three days felt like forever to Bomin. Maybe it was his fault for forgetting to ask for Joochan's number, or for anything at all. Or he could also blame Sanha for dragging him away so quickly that he didn't even manage to catch his name. 

That didn't change the fact that he wasn't fond of waiting. Waiting helplessly, not having any way to contact the cute guy from pride when Bomin himself was the one who approached him. At least that was over now.

If he's being honest, Bomin wasn't sure what he was expecting when he first approached Joochan. He was on his own too during his first time at pride, and he found it more enjoyable having his friends with him on that day. Putting it simply, he wanted to keep Joochan company. 

That, and he found it endearing seeing Joochan spend a solid minute standing at the same spot in the middle of nowhere, smiling to himself while observing every event. As if the world around him was lovely. 

After spending time with him, Bomin thought could say the same for Joochan.

And they're connected once again, with Bomin following Joochan before typing out a response.

_bobobomin:_

_heyyy !!_

_yeah we did haha_

_glad you managed to find me_

_jo_ochan:_

_heh it didn't take much_

_saw you and your friends in the top posts for the hashtag_

_bobobomin:_

_ohh cool!_

"Bomin, you idiot, that was so dry…" Bomin slapped his own forehead. Way to make a first impression.

Perhaps Joochan thought the same, staying online but not even bothering to leave him on read.

He should probably spice things up.

_bobobomin:_

_anyways_

_it was nice being with you the other day_

_let’s go out?_

_jo_ochan:_

_let’s WHAT_

Bomin stifled a laugh, amused by Joochan’s reaction. That would loosen things up a little.

_bobobomin:_

_i meant go out for lunch or something_

_jo_ochan:_

_oh lmao sure_

_bobobomin:_

_damn what were you thinking??_

_jo_ochan:_

_nothing! >:( _

_bobobomin:_

_lol sure_

_cute_

_jo_ochan:_

_ >< no u _

The longer the two talked for, the wider the smile on Bomin’s lips grew. They continued the conversations that were left unfinished when they first met, bickered here and there, and got to know each other a little more. Most importantly, they settled on a day they would meet again. 

People say time passes by faster when you’re having fun, and Bomin felt like their conversations lasted for barely a second.

It was getting late, so the two agreed to talk again the next day. Bomin was done preparing for bed, warmly huddled up under his blanket. He wasn’t one to check his social media often (which his friends always complained about), but he found himself looking at Joochan’s profile.

Candid shots, pretty sceneries, pictures of his dog — Joochan was clearly much more active on Instagram than he was. That was an advantage for the both of them alike, because Bomin felt like he could learn even more about Joochan. Besides the pictures of himself, Bomin realised most of Joochan’s posts were photos he had taken of the sights he loved.

It made Bomin remember his first impression of Joochan: a carefree boy with lots of love to give. His impression of Joochan hasn’t changed much. But this time, he thought that Joochan deserved lots of love as well. 

And Bomin was willing to give that. Maybe not now, but eventually.

Not long after, Bomin felt his eyes grow heavy. He figured he should probably get some shut-eye.

Bomin put his phone aside and closed his eyes, smiling to himself as he thought about Joochan for one more time.

“I’m glad we’ll be seeing each other again.”

* * *

"You're going to finish all that?" Bomin watched as Joochan submitted his order for lunch. The two were at a fast food chain and agreed to pay for their own meals, though Bomin had to blink twice before realising that Joochan bought an entire box of fried chicken for himself.

Joochan turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. "You wanna bet?" 

"Woah, no thank you." Bomin rejected, stepping towards the self-ordering kiosk to place his order. He’s never seen anything like it before, but he knew better than to doubt Joochan. Betting over that was essentially the same as signing himself up to lose. 

Being a regular there, Bomin quickly navigated through the menu to look for his go-to order, while Joochan waited beside him. He was just minding his own business, really, but he could feel Joochan’s gaze fixated on him. Feeling conscious about it, his finger glided across the screen slower, stealing a glance when he could. But Joochan still wouldn’t budge. He wasn’t sure if Joochan was being brave or simply just spacing out, though what he _was_ sure of was that he might explode if he did that for any longer.

Somehow, that gave him an idea. 

Bomin looked at Joochan after submitting his order, a playful expression growing on his face. "On second thought, sure. What's the winner getting?"

Joochan stared blankly at Bomin, confused as to why he was suddenly so determined. He was just joking, but Bomin looked serious about it. Bomin sensed his confusion immediately, smiling at Joochan while waiting for an answer. Joochan noticed a glint in his eye, then understood what he was thinking of.

“Ah~” Joochan realised. He stopped to think, then looked at Bomin again with a smile. "He can choose once he wins."

Bomin smirked, satisfied with his answer. 

“Bet.”

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long for their orders to be prepared. It was barely afternoon, but Joochan was acting like he hadn’t eaten for days. Bomin counted, and he probably said “I’m hungry” at least 10 times within the short span of time they were together. 

True enough, Joochan immediately dug into his food, almost completely ignoring Bomin except to give occasional remarks about how good the chicken was. It reminded him of when they met at pride, with Joochan munching on his food while Bomin just watched. And Bomin was watching him once again, a small yet fond smile on his face. Perhaps he should’ve just sat there and ate his food, because Joochan seemed to take notice.

Joochan looked up, cheeks still puffed up from the food. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just... cute that you’re so happy whenever you eat that.” Bomin brushed off, eating again as if nothing happened. Joochan squinted, looking at Bomin’s ears that were gradually turning red, then doubting his own. _Cute?_

“They’re that good! Have one.” Joochan put a drumstick on Bomin’s tray. He wasn’t actually one to share his food — especially if it was one of his favourites — but Bomin didn’t need to know that. Bomin looked at it for a moment, then smiled as a gesture of appreciation.

As expected, Joochan finished his meal by the time Bomin did. It almost came as a surprise to Bomin since he got a smaller meal in comparison, but it occurred to him by then that Joochan was one dedicated food fighter.

“I guess that means I win.” Joochan stated, to which Bomin hummed in response.

“You gave me one though.” Bomin reminded, causing Joochan to frown.

“Hey-- You wanted it!”  
  
“No, you offered it and I accepted it.” 

Joochan opened his mouth to protest, then realised Bomin was right. His frown turned into a pout, in an attempt to convince Bomin otherwise. Almost immediately, Bomin’s expression visibly softened.

“I’m kidding, Joochan.” Bomin giggled to himself, and Joochan unconsciously smiled. “So what do you choose?”  
  
“I can choose anything?”  
  
“I don’t see why not.” Bomin shrugged innocently.

Joochan paused for a moment. Clearly, Bomin had something in mind, but wasn't it too soon for that?

There were many things that Joochan could get worried about, and this situation was one of them. Still, he didn’t want to regret it later if he was too cowardly to do anything now.

“Be with me.”

Bomin's eyes widened in surprise. He was expecting something similar, sure, but he didn't know Joochan would be so direct about it. “In what way?”

Another pause followed suit, as Bomin's question made Joochan feel embarrassed all over again. He scratched his head nervously, hesitating to look at Bomin. “That, I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out.”  
  
“Joochan, that’s lame.” Bomin grinned, wanting to tease Joochan.  
  
Joochan scoffed in return, folding his arms sulkily. All that courage he mustered up only to be called lame? “I think _you’re_ lame.”

“Well, you’re in luck, because I was already planning to do that whether you like it or not.” Bomin’s mischievous smile turned into a warm one, maintaining eye contact with Joochan.

Once again, Joochan’s heart fluttered at the sight of Bomin’s smile. This time, he was certain of the reason why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to the mods for holding this fest! and to the prompter: i’m so sorry if this didn't live up to your standards but i hope you like it regardless <3


End file.
